Now, you can file income tax returns till 31 August

The ITR filing due date has been extended from 31 July 2018 to 31 August 2018. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: In a relief to individual taxpayers, the income tax department on Thursday extended the last date for filing tax returns by one month.

The due date for filing the income tax returns has been extended to 31 August from 31 July, the income tax department said in a statement.

This will be a relief for taxpayers who are yet to file their tax returns as from this year, as per a budget provision, late filing of tax returns will attract a penalty of up to ₹10,000.

A penalty of ₹5,000 will be levied if the return is filed after the due date but before 31 December, as per this new provision applicable from this year. The penalty will be ₹10,000 after 31 December.

However, if the taxpayer’s income is less than ₹5 lakh, maximum penalty levied is capped at ₹1,000.

“While return filing due date has been extended, taxpayers are still unsure about how the penalty applies to them if they cannot file by 31 August,” said Archit Gupta, founder and CEO of ClearTax, a tax and compliance software provider. People are enquiring if penalty applies when they have no tax payable or if the taxable income is less than ₹2.5 lakh and they are filing the tax return only for refund, he added..